Timer and distributer.



H. L. RADFORD.

TIMER AND DISTRIBUTER.

APPLIUATIQN FILED Aug. 9' 1905.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY L. RADFORD, OF ORANGE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO GROUT BROTHERS AUTOMOBILE COMPANY, OF ORANGE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSA- GHUSETTS.

TIMER AND DISTRIBUTER.

I Application fi1 ed .August 9,

. To all whom it mag concern:-

Beit known that I, HARRY L. RAnnonn, a cltizenof the United States, and a resident of Orange, in the county of Franklin and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Im rovement in Timers and Distributers, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification,

' like numerals on the drawings representing the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a section of my improved timer and distributer'on substant'a ly the line 22-00, Fig. 2; Fig. 2 is asectional View on the line y y', Fig. 1, looking to the right {Fig 3 is a section on the line a a, Fig. 1, looking to the left; Fig. 4 is a section through the upper part of the device on the line b b, Fig. 1 Fig. 5 is a section through the upper part of the device. on the line c-c, Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a view of one of the contact pieces detached from the structure.

3- designates the casing to which the terminals of'the rimary and secondary circuits are connected: and within which the make" and break device and distributing device are received, said case preferably being made of some suitable insulating material. V

The casing is mounted on a suitable shaft 4 which may ,be any appropriate part either of the engine with which-tho device is used or of the machine operated by the engine.

The make and break device may be of any suitable or usual construction,'and as usual in this class of devices it is placed in thecircuitincluding, the primary winding of the spark coil.

The make and break device herein shown comprises the make and break contacts 8 and 9, 9 being a fixed contact and 8 a movable contact. These contacts are both sustained by a. plate 7 and are suitably insulated from each other, this being conveniently done by of the spark coil.

Letters Patent.

1905. Serial No. 273,372.

Patented June 1, 1909.

contact 9is in the form of a member screwthreaded into' a projection 10 carried by said plate 7. The movable contact 8 is carried by an arm 6,whichis pivoted to the plate 7 and which mayconveniently be insulated therefrom and which is acted upon by a cam de' vice 5 mounted on and rotating with the shaft 4, there being as manyicam projectlons on this cam device as there are sparking plugs to be actuated. J

.The arm 6 is held against the cam 5by a suitable spring 11 which surrounds a stud 12 slidably mounted in a projection 13 rigid with or forming part of the disk 7; The projection 10 is electrically connected with a block 14 carried by the plate 7 and sustains a spring pressed contact member 15 which is adapted to engage a contact-piece 16 carried by the casing 3. Said contact piece 16 is connected to a terminal or binding post 17 which, in turn, is connected to a wire 18 of the circuit including the primal Winding 19 The circuit 0 the primary winding is completed through the shaft 4 and cam 5. I

There are as many cam projections on the cam 5 as there are cylinders or sparking plugs to be ignited, and therefore durin each rotation of the shaft 5 the make and fin'eak device'will be operated as many times as there are sparking plugs.

The plate 7 is loosely mounted on a sleeve 20 which is fast to the shaft 4 and which carries the cam 5, and said plate 7. is connected to an annular block 21 of insulating material.

The distributing device is shown as a disk 22 of insulating material which is n'ronntedon the sleeve 20 to rotate-with the shaft 4, and which carries a distributing ring if; of conducting material, which ring is providrwl with a brush or contact-finger adapted in the rotation of the disk 22 to 'engage a pinrality of contact-pieces 25.

The casing-3 carries a terminal or binding post 26 to which the secondary winding 27 ol the spark coil is connected by a suitable wire 28, said binding post extending through the casin 3 and engaging at its inner end the distri uting ring 23. Each of the contact ieces 25 1s electrically connected with a liinding post or terminal 29, and each terminal 29 is connected to a brain-i130 of the circuit including the secondary winding 27, each branch having therein a spark plug 3] insulating the contact 8 from the plate. The

to be operated. The contact pieces 25 are Ill 1 and all danger of breaking the insulation on herein shown as being carried by the block 21, each contact piece being of a shape to enage the inner end of the corresponding bindmg post or terminal 29.

circuit and-consequently momentarilyinducmg the current in the secondary winding,

said current being directed through the branch 30 corresponding to the contactpiece 25 with which the finger 24 is in engagement. The sparking plugs 31 in the various branch circuits will therefore be'operated successively.

In order to advance or retard the spark, it is now more or less common to shift the casing relative to the operating shaft, but the objection to this method of retarding or ad- 1 vancing the spark is 'thatythe continual i shifting of the casing is liable to result in breaking the insulation on the wires which are connected to the casing- To avoid this difficulty I have provided for advancing or retarding the spark without shifting the casing 3, so that said casing may be stationary the wires is avoided.- In the present embodiment this advance or retard of the spark is accomplished by mounting the plate 7 carrying the make and break contacts so that said plate may be shifted about the shaft 4 without moving the casing.

Projecting from the plate 7 is a handle or arm 33 which extends through a slot 34 in the case and to which may be connected a handle or any suitable connection 35 by which the plate 7 may be shifted. Since the plate 7 is connected to the block 21, and since the latter carries the contacts 25 it is necessary to so shape said contacts and also the contact piece 16 that said contacts will not be thrown out of engagement with their respective binding ppsts or terminals when the plate 7 and bloc 21 is shifted. Accordingly I propose to make the contact piece 16 in the form of a strip, as shown in Fig. 4, said strip being long enough so that it will always be in engagement with the stationary binding posts 17 throughout the entire extent of movement of the plate 7. Similarly the contact-pieces 25 are provided with an extended contact-piece 36 which extends circumferentially of the block 21 so that each terminal 29 is electrically connected to its contact 25 regardless of the adjusted position of the block 21.

In order that my invention may operate it is not essential that the finger 24 have actual physical contact with the contactpieces 25 as the distributing ring rotates, because if there is a slight gap between said arm and its contact iece the high tension current of the secondary circuit will jump across such ga The articular form of make and break device erein illustrated is not essential to my invention, nor is the particular construction of distributing device.

. The principal advantage of having the casing 3 stationary is that all danger of breaking the wires. connected to the various terminals on the casing by the shifting movement of the casing isavoided.

Various changes in the construction of the device may be made without departing from the invention.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a timer and distributer, the combination with a stationary casing having a primary terminal and secondary terminals,

and an adjustable member within the casing having contacts electrically connected to the secondary terminals, a make-and-break device carried by said member, a rotary shaft, a distributing member thereon, means to operate the make-and-break device by the rotation of the shaft, and means to adjust said member and the make-and-break device carried thereby within the casing and relative to the shaft.

2. In a timer and distributer, the combination with a stationary'casing having a primary terminal and secondary terminals, of an adjustable member within the casing having contacts electrically connected to the secondary terminals, make-and-break 'contacts carried by said member and electrically connected to the primary terminal, a rotary shaft, a distributing member carried thereby, cams'moilnted on the shaft for actuating the make-and-break device, and means to turn said adjustable member angularly about the shaft, thereby to advance or retard the spark.

3. In a device of the class described, a

casing having a plurality of secondary terminals and a primary circuit terminal, the latter having an extended contact surface, a movable block within the casing, a make and break device carried by said block, a contact associated with the make and break device and engaging the extended contact surface on the casing, arotary distributing ring having constant electrical connection with one of the secondary circuit terminals, and a contact piece electrically connected to each of the other secondary circuit terminals and adapted to be engaged by a projection on the distributing ring as the latter rotates, said last named contact pieces beingcarried by the movable member.

In a timer and distributejr, the combito shift the make and break device angularly' nation-Witha stationary casing havin aprirelative to the easing'without causing any.

mary terminaland secondary termina s, of a movement of the easing. e shaft "extending into the casmg, a make and In testimony whereof, I have signed my.15 break device Within thecasing connected to name. to this specification, in the presence of h the primary terminal, means on the shaft to two subscribing witnesses.

'- operate the make and break device, a cur-- rent-distributing device also carried by said 7 shaft and situated within the' casing and" Witne'ssesr 7 adapted 'tobeeonnected to the secondary CLARENCE R. GRAY, terminals, and means exterior to the casing I HENRY 'AME s.

HARRY f -A o 

